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Message: <blockquote data-quote="feed" data-source="post: 6676952" data-attributes="member: 142900">Unusual and Spectacular Castles Castles  That Will Inspire and Haunt You Arguably born the day  that villagers -- and the people who profited off them -- decided that  wood wasn’t strong enough to keep them safe, castles quickly became more  than just edifices dedicated to security. Instead of repelling borders,  real or imaginary, castles became THE status symbol of status symbols.  Monuments to bravado, they were stone and mortal proclamations to the  age-old idea that "mine is bigger than yours." <img src="http://www.funonthenet.in/images/stories/forwards/castles.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />     Pierrefonds - picture-postcard example of a  castle If you want an picture-postcard example of a  castle, you don’t have to go anywhere but the Château de Pierrefonds in  France. Although it may have started out as a structure designed to keep  some folks out and others safely in, it was later partially sugar  frosted by none other than Napoleon the 3rd, who was shooting for a true  nobility status symbol: a iced cake that no one but the very rich and  very privileged could eat. <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrPzVLnSJI/AAAAAAAAh18/E1cUdg5NCNs/s640/4trwegsrgdfbdfb.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Frédéric Lavaux) Pierrefonds  is still a beautiful place, even if its fortifications were overly  gilded –- or maybe because of it. It’s no wonder it's used to this day  when central casting gets a call for a classic castle. <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrPzi33X9I/AAAAAAAAh2I/fs2wrFl88VI/s640/467r5tujghkjmh.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (photos by Ralph Gant and Benoit Stordeur,  see more) When fairy tale jumps from a  landscape and hits you between the eyes If you want a  real Disney, fairy-tale, and totally insane castle, you have to visit  the residence of one totally insane German king, namely Ludwig II of  Bavaria.  Look up gaudy in the dictionary and there’s a picture of his  castle: Neuschwanstein ("The New Swan Rock").  <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrSWhjjwtI/AAAAAAAAh6w/6473mYGNzpA/s640/ertyr6fjghmbnm.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrSW9wtFDI/AAAAAAAAh68/VYqt10GxQ6M/s640/45yethgfngvn.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Neuschwanstein Castle, gracing ten million  over-saturated postcards and jigsaw puzzles, (image credits unknown) Glitzed  and filigreed, Neuschwanstein is like Ludwig’s twisted brain turned  inside out and realized in stone and brick. It is also sublime and  splendid, over-the-top and strangely fragile - all at the same time. We  are going to devote a special article to it, truly a place not  of this world. <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP4a8bDMI/AAAAAAAAh24/1LYlPYVdPBU/s800/4567uy56utyj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> photos by Avi Abrams Monstrous  chandelier? Check. Room made to look like a cavern? It’s there. Entire  rooms dedicated to Wagner (with whom Ludwig was obsessed)? Absolutely.  It’s all there, larger and more ornate than any life … unless, of  course, you were the King of Bavaria. <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP5il_oiI/AAAAAAAAh3Q/-haom9Hj1nk/s640/467r6uygjghk.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> photos by Avi Abrams The  Coral Castle - Nobody knows how it was built One of my  favorite castles, though, wasn’t the dream of a king realized in stone  and mortar. Spurned at the altar back in his native Latvia, Edward  Leedskalnin took his disappointment, and a case of tuberculosis, to  Florida in 1923. There, in the land of oranges and sunshine, Leedskalnin  began to build his very own castle, one he worked on until his death in  1951 (more info) <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP936uTVI/AAAAAAAAh5Y/gCSKYBUrw1w/s640/4567r6ufygjgh.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: sarahmizoo) <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP86H1bBI/AAAAAAAAh5A/g4Kg3bDpR6g/s640/456765utyjghj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (images credit: Jim) It’s still  there and definitely worth seeing. It might not have the polish of  Pierrefonds or the glimmer of Neuschwanstein, but Rock Gate Park, as he  called it, is still a striking sight: monstrous slabs of coral  skillfully balanced and beautifully positioned, all of them assembled  without reinforcement or mortar. He spent over 28 years building the  Coral Castle, refusing to allow anyone to view while he worked. <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP8qiaEpI/AAAAAAAAh40/zw76QV9ukTc/s640/4576ruyjghkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (The Throne Room, supposed to depict the Moon  and the planets - photo by Claudia Domenig) Leedskalnin’s  construction genius is legendary. No one quite understands how  he built his castle and then moved it ten miles away in 1936.  Some people think he used a kind of perpetual motion machine or mystical  methods to move his several-ton blocks. Whatever the means, his Coral  Castle, is still a magnificent achievement -– the sublime result of his  own two hands, his incredible inventiveness, and a tragically broken  heart. Portmeirion: a surreal village in Gwynedd,  Wales Stepping away from literal castles, but staying  within the theme of very special men and the homes they created, one of  the most beautiful is one you might not know the name of but one you’d  recognize immediately. All I need to write is "You are Number 6." <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP-f41bMI/AAAAAAAAh5w/v7MV_V88_Hc/s640/345yeyhfghgf.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Richard Hagen) Located  in Wales, Portmeirion was created by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in 1925  (though some of it wasn’t finished until 1975). Although Sir  Williams-Ellis wasn’t a king, he was obviously knighted, and certainly  had help with his remarkable residence. Portmeirion deserves to stand  with Ludwig’s vision of Germanic paradise and Leedskalnin’s eccentric  coral castle because of its unique, and spectacularly beautiful, vision. <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP-2VKW-I/AAAAAAAAh58/LyF1u3igmTI/s640/e356urtjgnv.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Gavin D. J. Harper) Williams-Ellis  was so dedicated to preserving the tranquil elegance of Portmeirion  that the filming location of Patrick McGoohan’s "The Prisoner" wasn’t  revealed until the final episode of the series. Even with the careful  hiding of the village’s identity, anyone who knew anything about  architecture would have recognized the Williams-Ellis’s pearl-white  cottages and the legendary green dome where, in "The Prisoner", the  village’s rotating Number 2s had their office. <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP-IyMNiI/AAAAAAAAh5k/9Y0n1WnD1Zg/s640/56utrjygjghh.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Matt Buck) Portmeirion  is truly a beautiful place and completely unspoiled by its television  appearance. It remains today just as Williams-Ellis intended it to be: a  tranquil village with a tasteful dusting of nostalgia. The  Postman's Palace - another single-handedly built castle Ferdinand  Cheval has imagined his "Ideal Palace" and simply went  on to built it - after all, why not? He spent 33 years with this  project (located in the village of Hauterives in the picturesque Drôme  region of Southern France) - but the results are nothing less than  stunning: <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP_DFAw2I/AAAAAAAAh6I/4PNGGGDLqHU/s640/456756ufygjghmhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP_bWSmWI/AAAAAAAAh6U/UH3WXbexNVo/s640/456756ugykjhkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (photos by Emmanuel Georges, Eric Devlies,  Francerama) Initially considered "the village idiot", he  was suddenly hailed as a genius and a celebrity in France, upon  completion of this intricate affair. But is it the "Ideal Palace"?  Everyone seems to have a different opinion. More info and images are on  this page. Whether it's the gussied-up fortresses like  Pierrefonds, the gilded dreams of a mad king like Neuschwanstein, the  eccentric genius of Leedskalnin and his Coral Castle, or the whimsical  grace of Williams-Ellis’s Portmeirion and Ferdinand Cheval's Palace, a  man’s home can really be his castle. More Fantastic  Castles, to Visit and to Think About (Wistfully) Eltz  Castle, Germany: another fairy-tale location, this time completely  surrounded (and in certain degree concealed) by the forest: <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP3zAu44I/AAAAAAAAh2g/gOMC5dotaaY/s640/357tuyjghkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: frizztext, see more) Germany  (just like Switzerland and Austria) has many enchanting castles, big  and small - <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP4EtMxzI/AAAAAAAAh2s/cFNQI1SdN24/s640/3456e5hyufgjghkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Castle-like mansion in Arnsberg and a large  Buerresheim Castle, photos by frizztext The stretch of  Rhein between Cologne and Mainz has the especially high concentration of  great fortresses, presiding over the quaint riverside villages: <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP7oKD7hI/AAAAAAAAh4E/a7KJ3T4OZbI/s640/4567567uryjghkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This is a great site listing all the castles Egeskov  Castle, Denmark: <img src="http://lh4.google.ca/abramsv/R6Ol_e9HoDI/AAAAAAAAF0w/VXEyEJSWyUw/s640/11_luchshie_foto.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Malene Thyssen) Eastern  Europe abounds in awesome castles. This is for example, Castle in  Moszna, Poland: <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP8DxMAEI/AAAAAAAAh4c/EYdJXm9cz3w/s640/45674uygkhjkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Check out the sinister door handle from the Dracula's  Bran Castle on the bottom right. Towers emerging from the mist in the  photo below: this is Bragança, a walled town in northern Portugal. Very  evocative image on the bottom left is Le Chateau de Nyon in Nyon,  Switzerland: <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP72jwbjI/AAAAAAAAh4Q/5Fb5T5S8dds/s800/345654ythjfjgh.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (originals unknown) The  Chittorgarh Fort in India. This pool was often the only source of water  during the numerous sieges by Mughal Emperors: <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP0M1gsuI/AAAAAAAAh2U/DzuUh6wAFY4/s640/m1gcnAlUqklXxSVLNz.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image via) Nestled in  High Places: The way to the Guaita Fortress in San  Marino (more info) - <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/R-q8-PXRgaI/AAAAAAAAMpA/t_4pBtQOHz4/s640/051_pics.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Try not to think of "Myst" and "Riven" while looking at  the above picture... Here is the high cliff on which the fortress  stands: <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/R-21nPXRh-I/AAAAAAAAM3I/l29BDeIUL5c/s640/770px-Sanmarino5.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Ricardo André Frantz) Overlooking  the Echaz Valley and the storybook village below, often shrouded in  fog, Lichtenstein Castle comes close to being the perfect castle in  Europe. <img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP8ch56_I/AAAAAAAAh4o/k6KiyjCs9-8/s640/345654ytrjgkhj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: Andreas Tille) The  Abandoned Castle in Rural Italy Oh yes, still unclaimed  by some luxury developer, nor touched by multi-million renovation...  hiding in a valley in a tangled forest: Castello di Zena: (here  is a Google Earth location, but don't set your hopes too high - this is  a guarded private property) <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP7GtM4KI/AAAAAAAAh34/u74fji42dfY/s640/454549099_091168c756_o.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> (image credit: cyberbiscottato) A  mystery. Falling to pieces. Splendor in the grass. A  View That Launched 10,000 Epic Fantasy Books Another  feature of fortified high places is the splendid view they often afford.  We'd like to open up a sort of competition: The Best View From a  Castle, but the winner already easily comes to mind - and it's  the Neuschwanstein's Castle, again. The panorama of the towering Alps  and a nestled gem of the lake, Alpsee, is enough to make you sigh and  close your eyes... dreaming. <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/abramsv/SPrP5AJMkhI/AAAAAAAAh3E/0gFWIilDkvY/s640/345654yrtjghkmj.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Photo by Avi Abrams The  ultimate castle, that was ever designed to grace the face of the Earth King  Ludwig, again. The planned Falkenstein - truly THE Lost Castle. The one  that he was all set to build - but for the financial (and mental)  meltdown he suffered. <img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/abramsv/R7vHm6oD5bI/AAAAAAAAI7A/lIwKB_psf9w/s640/2245194789_69015d50db_o.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Christian Jank's first High Gothic design for  Falkenstein, 1883. IF YOU LIKE THIS PLEASE ADD +REP AND LEAVE A COMMENT <img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/happy.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Happy    :)" data-shortname=":)" /> </blockquote>

Verification: Haya warak paha keeyada? (haya wadi kireema paha)

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